Public transport needs to be a national program

In my recent holiday in Europe, I was awestruck by the way public transport was organised. There was not a single occasion when I felt the need to take a rental car either within a city / town or between them. What fascinated me was the ease with which I could travel from one location to another with just one ticket and hopping between different modes of transportation – bus, tram, trains and ferries. On one occasion, I travelled 235 kms by train from Copenhagen to Vejle and another 28 kms to Billund by bus. This journey required just one day ticket for both modes (including return).

Such train services extend to most European airports as well.

That was when I decided to have a deeper look into how public transport works in Europe and how can it be adapted in New Zealand. The answer is simple – look at public transport as a national program and not something just to do with a city or region.

Local governments in New Zealand are always busy trying to designing the best public transport solution for their region. In most cases, local governments don’t have enough resources to be able to implement a decent public transport network and service. Further, the solutions implemented are invariably just for the region with regional access. Palmerston North’s representative in the parliament Iain Lees-Halloway has rightly pointed that is causing funding issues for the capital connection between Palmerston North and Wellington because it traverses multiple regions. However, when viewed as a national program, public transport could then become accessible throughout New Zealand. The scale of operations and usage would make the program economically viable.

A national program in public transport will set standards on connectivity between different cities and region, service and uniform fare structure. While the central government implements necessary infrastructure like railway network and manage national rolling stocks, local governments implement and manage most of the plan with funding from central government. Local governments can decide the mix of modes (trains, buses, trams and ferries) depending on what is viable and cost effective for the size and population of the region. What this means is cost of public transport is then rationalised so that access to these facilities are then at a uniform price allowing for integrated ticketing not just a region but also nationally. Internally, if necessary the cost can be apportioned between different modes.

The infrastructure that gets created in the process can then be made available for moving freight as well, which will be good for the economy.

Throw in facilities to carry bikes / cycles in trains and you have a truly fully integrated public transport system.

One should not get the impression this can be implemented overnight. After all, it has taken decades for Europe to achieve their current standards in public transport. However, this must be started in right earnest as soon as possible, to reduce its dependence on dwindling oil resources in the coming decades.

The question that needs to come to anyone’s mind is what should stop someone from taking a train from say Auckland to Hamilton followed by a bus or tram from Hamilton station to the final destination, all with one day ticket! That is not asking for the moon. The current issue of the viability of capital connection between Palmerston North and Wellington would be easy to resolve when viewed as national program.

ENDS

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